Re: [Paddlewise] Gear list request

ralph diaz wrote:

> Doug Lloyd wrote:
> > check lists, or if I should add mine to any ongoing lists. My list is
> > more specific, as I keep it for insurance purposes along with a video
> > tape kept at a relatives (only way I get replacement value with my
> > underwriter) and as a final check before leaving on a trip.
> <snip>
>
> A very impressive list.  Good thing you are not a gear-head! :-)

Sorry for delay in response -- I'm in and out of town right now, so please
don't be offended by any apparent long delays getting back on subjects.

Me, a gear head? Naw, I was told the Nordkapp handles better with a full
load, so by packing dense, I have the best handling Nordkapp around. Packing
dense, now there's a pun :-)

Actually, so little of my kayak shows in a rough sea under a full load, that
I hardly notice winds (well, some days it seems). Also, I can pack as much
as some others with higher volume kayaks, due to my use of four compartments
and low-profile deck net bags and a consistent loading pattern varied only
slightly for down-wind running. I do have overload buckles on the rear deck,
but only use them on the rarest occasion, if ever. By using large "laundry
net bags" to transport gear to the waterside, and then having most things in
smaller, slender bags, I can load that Nordkapp like no body's business. The
addition of an VCP oval hatch immediately abaft of the cockpit has been a
godsend for loading. I also use the aluminum space blanket if needed, to
place beside the kayak while loading, which keeps the gear clean and grit
free. Gear can "get in the way" of the wilderness experience. However, with
my experience and organization, I find all the gear helps me "participate"
in wilderness adventure travel in a safer, more efficient manner. I _have_
seen the opposite on some trips, where individuals were overwhelmed by all
the gear and loading permutations. Going naked with a stick and a log is not
something i would enjoy, though I'd love to see Nigel Foster do this at a
one of his symposium talks on paddling techniques (well, perhaps some of the
females would!).

>
> Seriously though, just a few comments/questions:
>
> --Notice that Doug puts his Thermarest in a dry bag.  Some paddlers
> thinking that the pad is covered with waterproof fabric, don't give it
> that extra measure of protection.  They sometimes wind up sleeping on a
> wet surface.  Tents, tent poles, and tarps should also be similarly
> protected even though the fabrics are largely waterproof and the poles
> of aluminum.  Tent poles can corrode in saltwater as some paddlers have
> found out.  Protect everything.

Amen. Gear is expensive, so why not protect it and keep it for a long time.
Is that not part of good stewardship of earth's resources from whence our
gear came? Not only do bags/stuff sacks, etc.,  keep gear from getting wet,
they help keep off grime, grit, dirt, destructive saltwater, etc. Also,
loading in the rain isn't a pain when each and every item is in its own
protective bag or grouped in same, etc.

>
>
> --Doug, what is the weight of everything not including the kayak and
> paddles?  Better stated, do you have the weight for ordinary day paddle
> gear and the weight for camping gear and food?

ITEM.................................................................RUNNING
TOTAL

Kayak, with permanent accessories.....................87 lbs
With deck items in place.....................................102 lbs (add 14
lbs)
With knee tube full, camera, deck water..............111 lbs (add 9 lbs)
With basic default gear and lunch........................126 lbs (add 15
lbs)
With basic multi-day gear added.........................162 lbs (add 36 lbs)

Per day weight of food/water is 5 lbs...................187 lbs (add 25 lbs
5-day trip)
Weight of booties, PFD,skirt, wetsuite.................202 lbs (add 15 lbs)
Current weight of paddler....................................408 lbs (add
206 lbs)

This list is based on my last trip (and some prior day-trip weights), which
I happened to do an actual weighing of as I was curious, especially given
the fact that all modifications likely to be made to my Nordkapp are now
complete, and I don't have any more gear I need now, other than EPIRB and
GPS someday. So, it looks like a day trip runs at 38 lbs, and an overnight
trip (one night only) runs 79 lbs, respectively, minus boat, paddling gear
and paddle/paddler. In winter, I add more gear like a Thermos, fleece
jacket, more poly underwear, and more dense food stuffs, soups for mid-day
warm up; but, I take less water as it is more plentiful along the coast.

Note that my food tends to be on the heavy side, as I take condensed liquid
milk, Alpen cold cereal, cans of beans and chile, boil-in-bag rice, power
bars, gorp, dried apricots/apples/pears, etc., back up Kraft pasta dinners.
I only do "gourmet" cooking when I take my wife. I gave up on alchol due to
gastric problems intrinsic to sitting in a kayak. Trips over 10 days tend to
be more of the freeze-dried food variety. On my own, I tend to push myself
in the elements, and have little energy at the end of the day for food
preparation. I am often on the water by 6:00 am (even earlier occasionally),
and breakfast takes four minutes for a fast go. I often do some major
paddling in the late afternoon once winds calm down again when running the
length of an exposed coast with summer wind patterns. I think I would have
expired long ago if it wasn't for the early starts. Winter tripping, all
bets are off. Survival in a moment by moment affair, with constant
re-evaluation needed and lots of escape routes, and decisive action taken in
compliance with gut feelings to get off the water NOW. Good gear is a must.
You can be stuck for days in one place (though I always find narrow windows
to keep moving).

I've also added a few things to my last gear list from 1999. Dye marker,
Glow sticks, Patagonia moisture barrier vest (insulates in winter, keeps
wind off torso in summer), a hand held compass, back-up cheap watch to my
regular diver's model, light wind shell for summer, and I take my old hooded
Wildwasser seam sealed paddling jacket for rain camping in the winter (it is
totally waterproof). Alas, rubber boots don't find room in a Nordkapp.


>
> --When you speak of keeping a careful record for insurance purposes is
> it just to document lost gear for insurance coverage? Or is it also to
> cover your own possible demise (something I pray will never happen to
> such a nice and noble person such as you who I have grown to like even
> though not having met) to underscore that you were not recklessly
> unprepared for whatever conditions did you in and therefore your
> beneficiaries are entitled to file a claim for benefits under your life
> insurance policy?

Both. Insurance adjusters like visual proof via a list and video tape or
still pictures in case of theft, loss, or fire, etc. My gear list also goes
on the back of my float plan, along with how many days water and food
(including back-up food) I'm carrying. I know if I die, i will be labeled
irresponsible no matter what, if I'm solo; so at least, a list goes a long
way to showing "whomever" that some responsibility was apparent. I know on
our last rescue, the Coasties were very impressed with the collective
equipment and preparation and prior experience and training. Me nice and
noble? Naw, why Matt said he wouldn't sell me one of his kayaks, as he
wouldn't want to see the Mariner name appearing in some future
accident/incident review/report. Of course, I'm not sure if the possible
truth to this is due to the fact of my track record, or perhaps a prophetic
utterance he didn't realize at the time matt said this to me, due to the
implication that one of his Mariner kayaks might not survive one of my trips
:-)

> I don't mean to be morbid or blunt but it is possible
> that some recalcitrant insurance claims adjuster might see your paddling
> style as reckless and risky (even suicidal); such obvious preparedness
> in gear (and vastly tested experience) would prove otherwise.

Funny you should mention this. As I left Port Hardy last week, a gale was
blowing. A lady in a business outfit came up to me and asked me where I was
going. I pointed to some offshore island in the distance. She said "You're
going out there, today?" She then took  my name and number, and said she
would call me in a few weeks upon my return to sell me "no-fault" accident
insurance. $50,000, no questions asked upon one's demise if it was sports
related. My current policies are fairly good, but there is often fine print
regarding "white water kayaking and river rafting". Insurance companies
still consider seagoing activities relatively safe, it would seem. Suicidal,
eh? I just call it fun. Living in New York - now that's suicidal :-) (Mug
mug, bang bang, crash crash).

>
>
> Again, thanks for such a complete list with lots of food for thought.

No problem. I'll "cc" the list the above response, as the weight
calculations might be useful to some folks. Take care ralph. Keep up the
great work with Canoe and Kayak magazine. I get the magazine now, since the
new editor took over and you started contributing. Hope the new head honcho
there works out. He sounds like a down-to-earth type. Gotta go. "She who
must be obeyed" is telling me to get off the computer.

BC'in Ya
Doug Lloyd (who loves these "heavy" subjects, but is a very down-to-earth,
gravity-pulled fellow most of the time)

>
>
> ralph diaz
> --
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter
> PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024
> Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com
> "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag."
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------

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